Tewaaraton Award Finalists Advance to NCAA Championship Weekend

WASHINGTON, May 21, 2012 – Two men’s and four women’s Tewaaraton Award finalists will compete at the NCAA men’s and women’s lacrosse championships this weekend in Foxborough, Mass., and Stony Brook, N.Y., respectively.

The Tewaaraton Foundation will announce the award’s 12th annual winners May 31 at the Tewaaraton Award Ceremony in Washington, D.C., at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian.

Junior midfielder Brittany Dashiell (Bel Air, Md.) led Florida’s balanced offense with three goals and two assists in a 15-2 quarterfinal win over Penn State. The top-seeded Gators, who will next face No. 4 Syracuse, are the second program in the 30-year history of the NCAA women's lacrosse tournament to advance to the final four in only its third season.

Junior midfielder Katie Schwarzmann (Sykesville, Md.) racked up a career-high eight points (4 g, 4 a) in No. 3 Maryland’s 17-11 defeat of in-state opponent Loyola while adding seven draw controls and playing suffocating defense on the Greyhound’s top scorer, Marlee Paton. The Terrapins have reached the national semifinals in each of Schwarzmann’s three seasons and four consecutive seasons overall.

Junior midfielder Taylor Thornton (Dallas, Texas) turned in a solid all-around performance in No. 2 Northwestern’s 12-7 win over Duke, grabbing four ground balls, causing three turnovers and winning two draws to go along with one goal. Thornton and the Wildcats have advanced to their eighth consecutive national semifinals and will face Maryland in a rematch of the last two national title games.

Junior attacker Michelle Tumolo (Mullica Hill, N.J.) led No. 4 Syracuse to a thrilling 17-16 comeback win against North Carolina. Tumolo recorded a team-leading four goals and five points, including the game-winning goal with five seconds remaining in regulation. Tumolo saved her best work for the game’s final three minutes, rallying the Orange from a two-goal deficit and notching two goals, an assist and a crucial forced turnover. Tumolo and Syracuse will make their second final four appearance in three years.

The five women’s finalists are Dashiell, Schwarzmann, Thornton, Tumolo and North Carolina attacker Becky Lynch.

The Tewaaraton Award annually honors the top male and top female college lacrosse player in the United States. Finalists were selected from a pool of 25 men’s and 25 women’s nominees. The selection committees are comprised of 12 men’s and 10 women’s current and former college coaches.